AnimeNation is an American retailer of anime, manga, and other products of Japanese culture. It was founded in 1995 and is located in Tampa, Florida. AnimeNation also runs other businesses including RentAnime.com,[1] a DVD-by-mail service, and AN Entertainment, an anime licensing and distribution production company.
Aside from retail services, the AnimeNation website also includes, a discussion forum, daily news on the anime industry, and a regular column, "Ask John", where AN employee John Oppliger answers reader questions about anime. "Ask John" archives on the AnimeNation website extend back to 1999.
In 2003, AnimeNation announced its intention to license and distribute anime directly under the name of AN Entertainment. The first title the company licensed was Risky Safety (now expired), which was followed in 2004 by Miami Guns. Their third release was Haré+Guu, which was released as a joint venture with Bang Zoom! Entertainment in February 2006.
ADV Films was the distributor of Risky Safety and Miami Guns (though its logo only appeared in trade ads). With Haré+Guu, distribution was switched to FUNimation Entertainment.